


Touhou Kourindou ~ Dimension Dream of Past

by OrangeOrchids



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Chaptered, F/F, Help, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I wrote until I physically couldn't anymore, Light Angst, POV First Person, Pining, Touhou PC-98 Era, i didn't even emulate the style of CoLA that well honestly, is it good? prolly not, it's complicated - Freeform, kkkkind of, oof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 06:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20187919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeOrchids/pseuds/OrangeOrchids
Summary: Marisa and Reimu go missing. Kourin worries for his children enough to try and find them.





	1. Chapter 1

It had been days since Reimu, or Marisa had passed by Kourindou. I held up my book to the moon’s dim light, and the room grew cold. The silence is deafening. I was used to the noise nearly every day, the two coming into my living room without warning.    
  
Their bickering was white noise, I suppose.   
  
I was unable to think about anything else. Where could they even be in this weather? It was snowing nearly every day, despite being only September.   
  
Yukari was coming in a bit for the usual exchange of kerosene fuel. I could ask her. After all, if anyone would know what happened, it’s the gap youkai.   
  
..Maybe they had finally forgotten about me.   
  
No, no, they hadn’t. Maybe they were just busy, right? It would’ve been more gradual..   
  
Right?   
  
“Morichika?”   
  
I had jumped, spinning around to see Yukari, a surprisingly concerned face. She held the normal box of Kerosene fuel, almost perfect in geometric shape.   
  
An hour early as well.   
  
That woman will always confound me.   
  
“You have a troubled look. Is everything well?”   
  
My heart then continued trembling with blatant fear, trying its hardest not to fall and shatter. I took in a slow breath, colder than the snow around Kourindou. My eyes felt warmer than normal.   
  
“..I see. I suppose that you haven’t seen Marisa, nor Reimu?”   
  
I nodded, and the cold pit in my stomach froze up to my throat, choking my vocal chords in its grasp. I felt my very core quiver and shake. I hadn’t seen them in weeks, and Yukari reciprocating this…   
  
“Then, may I tell you a secret, Morichika? It should be helpful.”   
  
I nodded my head, my neck suddenly wanting to become very stiff. Warmth trailed down my cheeks, and the true reality of the situation finally caught up to me. The two heroines, simply.. Gone. No, not just heroines. My own children, withered away.   
  
“You do know Makai, the one Byakuren was sealed in,” the gap youkai whispered, setting down the box of fuel on my desk, “Correct?”   
  
“Well, that was not the first Makai. There was once an old Gensokyo, where an old Makai stood behind the Hakurei Shrine, where it stands, partially, to this day. When Marisa and Reimu went missing, people seemed to check everywhere but there. And then Alice went missing as well, along with her sealed Grimoire.”   
  
“..How do we know they’re there, Yukamo? What if they’re just…”   
  
Dead.   
  
My voice seemed to croak out words, and my lungs hurt when I breathed in. I couldn’t dare to finish my own sentence. Not today. Not ever. Even if I was half Youkai, Marisa was larger than life, and Reimu was a miko. They would both outlive me.. Right?   
  
“Hush. I know for a fact they’re in there. That was the last place those specific three were when the world was reborn, Rinnosuke. There has been energy coming from there as well. If there’s anywhere they would be, it’s the old Makai. And if there’s anyone who can retrieve them, it’s their loving father.”   
  
“..You really think so, Yukari? I can’t even use danmaku..”   
  
“You’ll find a way. I know so. You  _ do _ make magic items, correct?”   
  
Something swelled up inside me. It wasn’t the blistering, boiling anger, or more tears to rush down my face.   
  
No, something I hadn’t felt in the longest time. Determination- Similar to passion, yes, but it felt more.. Real.   
  
I pushed myself up from my chair, and though my knees almost gave out, I didn’t have a care in the waking world.    
  
“Where was this ‘Old Makai’ you mentioned, Yukari?”   
  
“A ways behind the Hakurei shrine. I hope you know what you’re doing.”   
  
“Of course I do.”   
  
I almost stumbled when I ran to the back of my shop, and Yukari followed behind. I had a couple things to get, before I would set off into the night. I ran to the wall, to a mounted sword.   
  
The imperial regalia of Japan, the Sword of Kusanagi. The wind cutter, a magic one too. It could summon danmaku in the right hands.   
  
I lifted it up off of the shelf, and its handle felt cold to the touch. If I used it right, it would be all I need.   
  
“I’ll have Ran watch over the shop while you’re gone, Morchika.”   
  
“Will you steal everything?”   
  
“Nothing important. You’re doing something important, I understand.”


	2. Chapter 2

I slowly trudged through the snow, my weak legs frigid as I walked. The white glittered in the moonlight. The consistency of the snow felt like a blanket, but ironically the opposite in temperature    
  
They say the dim light of the moon created Youkai. I can see why. There’s a certain energy.to seeing the Hakurei shrine, quiet and empty, shrouded in darkness and lightly dipped in the white light of the moon.    
  
Gripping the Kusanagi, I trudge past it, snapping my head away from it. Reimu said that there was a vengeful spirit, who had supposedly spirited away long ago. Of course, it couldn’t be there now. Yet that gripping anxiety took hold.   
  
I kick past it like the shining snow beneath my feet.   
  
There would be a cave, a dead end eventually. The Old Makai, as Yukari put it. I could find Marisa, Reimu, and possibly Alice.   
  
What if it was too late, however? What if they had died of hypothermia before I had gotten to them? The thought made me shudder more than the lonely cold. I quite liked the chilling, breaking wind, and the darkness of the night only cut by Gensokyo’s large moon. However, the dread in my heart was too much to bear.   
  
I wanted to fly, then. The snow was merely an obstacle. If I could just learn how to fly, and then I would be able t-   
  
“He-llo?”   
  
I turned my head, to see a pond, frozen over. A large, old tortoise, or perhaps a turtle, an ash grey beard crawling down his face was crawling toward me. I turned my body, slow and cold, to the turtle.

“I am Genjii. Walking in the snow is troublesome, is it not?”   
  
I sighed, my worried manifesting into a white mist expelled by my breath. I didn’t have time for this. I put on a kind smile.   
  
“I’m terribly sorry, Genjii. I’m in a real hurry.”   
  
“As I thought. That is why I approached you. I work for Reimu. She has told me about you, young man. You are not one to fly, are you not?”   
  
I felt my face turn confused, staring at the strange turtle. I can only assume he was a sort of youkai as he spoke.   
  
“I don’t know how to fly, no. I’m only half youkai.”   
  
“I see. Step onto my shell, then.”   
  
Genjii turned slightly so he faced side-ways, toward Old Makai. His expression looked wise, confident, despite being a turtle .   
  
“I’m not sure that won’t hurt you…”   
  
“Take it or leave it, kid.”

  
Stepped on to his wide shell, gripping onto my sword as if it were the only thing I knew..When he started to float, I closed my eyes for a second.   
  
_ The fear of the unknown is a very powerful thing _ , I thought.    
  
I opened up my eyes, and I was several meters in the air. I didn’t look down, for fear I would fall.   
  
“Okay.. Rinnosuke, is it?”   
  
“How do you know my name?”   
  
“Reimu.”   
  
The turtle took a sigh. Worn with age, I figured. After all, youkai with such wisdom would want to be relegated to merely a lackey, right?   
  
“Since you only have a sword, I can’t move like I did with Reimu. Instead, you should try leaning to tell me where to go, like uh, her girlfriend’s broom. Try it, kid.”   
  
I felt a fear build up inside me. What if I fell? The dread of every way I could die consumed me. Despite that, although with hesitance, I leaned forward, and almost immediately, Genjii gradually sped forward. The crackling, cold air that rushed past tingling skin felt almost cathartic.   
  
I could almost tell he worked for Reimu. Reimu would be too impatient for a slow turtle, after all. I felt my eyes sting with the thought, half of that probably being from the cold air… Right? Nonetheless, I couldn’t bear how much I missed my children.   
  
I would find them before the night was over.. Right?   
  
My thoughts were cut short by a phantom standing before me.   
  
Her long, emerald green hair and jade green eyes both glimmered in the dark, seeming to glow with an ethereal white, especially her ghost-like tail, which sprouted out of her navy dress with a neutral white trim.

“Hm. So I suppose you’re here to enter Makai…”   
  
“Damn it, I have no time for this. Please, for the love of god, move.”   
  
My voice became agitated, and my head turned boiling hot. I swung my sword, and the phantom tumbled for only a moment.   
  
“Do not be so harsh. After all, I am only here to try and retrieve my student Kirisame.”   
  
I lowered the Kusanagi, and stared at her. Was it Marisa? It couldn't be.. No. It had to be her. It had to be my child.   
  
Right?   
  
“Ah, I see, you have come to your senses… If you defeat me, you may join me to Makai. “   
  
I cut the air with the sword, and she gave a devilish grin as I tried my hardest to straighten my back.   
  
“Good. Before we begin, I am Mima. Your name?”   
  
“I’m Rinnosuke Morichika. I’m simply looking for my child, Marisa..”   
  
My voice softened quite a bit, and the Mima simply laughed. It was a dark, emancipating laugh.   
  
“So, you really are the Morichika I have been hearing about? Marisa’s chosen father? Very well. I shall test your new, undeveloped skill. To see if you can make it in the once standing Makai. To bring a sword, a grass cutter no less, to a danmaku fight is truly a silly thing, but I do hope you find a way.”   
  
Stars, bright and glowing, were summoned with a wave of her scepter, They danced across my vision, and I had no choice but to try and dodge. I swayed between bullets, somehow not getting hit.   
  
I shut an eye and tried to concentrate. If I couldn’t generate bullets, it was over. I would be dead. After all, such is the way of Gensokyo. Glittering bullets could shoot you dead, last moments shrouded in moonlight.    
  
Then, a single bullet shot out of the Kusanagi. Then a stream. I focused on trying to dodge increasingly larger, more dense bullets. Had I finally done it? Had I finally learned, if small, danmaku?   
  
There was no time to think about that. After all, I had a phantom in front of me. Whether her initial statement was a threat or an offer, it didn’t matter. I was fighting for Marisa and Reimu, and them alone.    
  
A flash of light then came from Mima, bursting out of her moon-shaped scepter into a--   
  
No, it can’t be possible. It was Master Spark. It was an array of white, it’s edges radiating with scattered light.. Stars came in waves as she directed it toward me.   
  
Nonetheless, I quickly swung out of the way, almost sliding off of Genjii.   
  
“Watch it, kid.”   
  


I got a feeling, a reaction in my gut. It told me to keep going. That I only had a little longer. I was about to hit a star, and almost got hit as well, if it weren’t for that gut instinct to fight I didn’t have often. A will; that same determination I had when I started.  
  
Then, something peculiar happened. She had just.. Stopped. Perhaps I had dealt the last blow. Perhaps I was just pathetic enough to warrant mercy.  
  
Whatever the case, she looked impressed.   
  
“You beat me…”  
  
“Wait, I did?”  
  
I felt a rising feeling swell inside. I almost wanted to grin, but I stopped myself. Marisa would’ve wanted to grin about this victory. Would she?   
  
“Come. We shall speak on the way to Makai”  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

I was still uneasy on Genjii, but that didn’t stop me from dashing along the stretch of land, presumably leading to Makai, with Mima.    
  
“You know Alice Margatroid, correct?”   
  
“She comes into Kourindou sometimes, I think.”   
  
Mima sighed, and clutched her scepter close to her chest. I didn’t know anything about her, except that she was a tutor of Marisa’s, and the slight comments she gave about herself. Which were near zero, understanbly.   
  
“..Shinki has possessed her for her Grimoire. I don’t know what she wanted with it, and.. Fuck.”   
  
“Can I ask what the Grimoire is? And who is Shinki..?”   
  
Mima took a deep breath, and sighed. I could sense melancholy, despite her initial impression. She sighed and looked away from me. She gripped her scepter like a stress ball, and she seemed quite.. Sorrowful, in a small way   
  
“Shinki.. She was the god of Old Makai. I was.. Very close with her. She had created everyone within, except for Alice, her child. She held the Grimoire, something she has today, albeit sealed. That Grimoire is powerful enough to do anything. Destroy universes, bring them back..    
  
Mima shook in the air, and went even faster. I had no choice but to try and keep up, to listen to her explanation as the sun slowly went up, tinting the sky orange.

  
“It was enough to bring me back. It was enough to bring her back just by Alice’s possession of it alone… I thought she died, damn it, and she didn’t even tell me she was coming back.”   
  
The phantom’s voice was shaking, and was struggling for air. I could tell it was the sound of restrained sobs. Many years of taking care of children doesn’t just teach you nothing. I felt like I had to ask. I probably shouldn’t have though.   
  
“..Were you in love, Mima?”   
  
Mima’s face turned pink, and she let out a heavy sigh. Perhaps she was used to questions like these. Perhaps she was just tired from all the fighting, from all the loss.   
  
“Yes. I hate admitting that I was, and possibly still am, but yes. I only say this because it’s horribly one-sided, Kourin. She would never, and will never, love me back. It’s fruitless.”   
  
“How do you know that, however? She might be doing this all to see you again. Just because she didn’t tell you immediately doesn’t mean your troubles are for nothing..”   
  
Mima then went silent for a moment. I noticed the snow glitter with orange light as we approached Makai. Or, at least, what I thought to be it’s ruins.    
  
A large, purple gate, leading to a cave. It seemed almost larger than life, despite being busted wide open. It was dilapidated. I looked to Mima, who had a wistful, almost nostalgic expression on her face.   
  
“If we’re going to get Marisa and Reimu back, we’re going to have to defeat her…”   
  
“This is it, huh…”   
  
I nodded to my own question. Of course it was. It was almost like a dream. Hell, I refused to believe it was reality. How could I have gotten this far? How could I be here, learning small portions of Danmaku this quickly?   
  
Yet… I felt prepared.    
  
This snowy haze would welcome me into the void at last.   
  
I would get my children back no matter what the cost.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, I know, short chapter, but it's 4 am, give me a break here,,,


End file.
